Daughter stabbed mother over cold chops

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An elderly Broadmeadows woman was stabbed 48 times after she complained pork chops cooked by her daughter were not hot enough, a bail application in the Melbourne Magistrates Court was told yesterday.

Barbara Smith, 70, was allegedly attacked by her daughter, Julie, with a 25-centimetre knife after Mrs Smith asked for the chops to be heated again because they were too cold.

Detective Senior Constable Simon Karp said that after the attack Ms Smith then pretended to be dead while her daughter washed the knife and changed her bloodstained clothes.

Of the 48 stab wounds received by Mrs Smith, all but one missed vital organs. Rushed to hospital for emergency surgery, she survived the attack and has returned to the Broadmedows home she shared with her daughter.

Julie Smith, 47, is charged with attempted murder and intentionally causing serious injury in the attack, alleged to have happened on January 27.

Senior Constable Karp said Smith had been a full-time carer of her mother for the past 10 years and would organise her doctor and hospital appointments. She would cook for her mother every day.

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He said Smith had prepared a dinner of chops and salad for her mother on the day of the alleged attack and gave it to her when Ms Smith asked for the meal to be reheated. The court heard that Smith knocked the plate of food out of her mother's hand and stabbed her repeatedly with a kitchen knife while screaming, "Shut up, shut up".

After the attack Smith called her father, Bryan, and told him she had killed her mother. Mr Smith arrived at the house soon after and seeing that his former wife was still alive called paramedics and police.

A forensic psychologist told the court that Smith had symptoms of major depression and anxiety. She had expressed feelings of "hopelessness, despair and thoughts of ending her life".

The psychologist said Smith had shown remorse over the attack.

Smith yesterday applied for bail but her lawyer, David McKenzie, said he was still awaiting a psychiatric assessment of his client.

Magistrate Lisa Hannan is expected to make a decision on bail tomorrow.